Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Quick Reviews: Russia's The Guardians (2017)

There is no Rocket or Groot, but there is a Bear with a Machine Gun! Is this extremely-random knock-off worth pissing off Putin to see? Let's find out...

In Modern Russia, a crazy man mutated by Science (!!!) and using Technology takes over some super-spider tanks.

In order to stop him, they recruit 4 former Test Subjects of his with powers to become The Guardians.

The group includes a man who throws Rocks around, an Invisible Woman, a Bear-man and Teleporting Winter Soldier (aka Khan).

The group don't exactly go too well in their first mission, leading to a dangerous march on Moscow.

While they try to learn new skills for the final battle, replacement Nick Fury is here to listen to the men monologue in separate Scenes!

Yes, they do this 3x!

When they return to fight again, they bring new gear. Can anyone stop a Bear-man with a giant gun?

Will they win the day? Is Russia doomed? How blatant will they make the ripping off?

To find out, watch the Film.

From Russia with love (of ripping off everything available). This one sure is an odd experience. The basic idea is simple: Mad Scientist tries to destroy the World. Things get more complicated when we bring up the idea that he made mutants back in the 1970s before seemingly dying. This apparently makes them not age, as our Heroine cries about seeing others age around him. You get to be unaging AND turn into a Man-Bear- win-win! On top of that, they drag out some Cold War silliness as the man's plan involves reactivating an abandoned Satellite built during the Star Wars Program by Reagan. Naturally, the United States is still somehow the enemy in a Russian-made Film! You have to accept that this is just a bunch of inspired rip-offs. The rock guy armors up like The Thing, the Man-Bear (Ursa) is literally already a Marvel Character, the invisible Woman is self-explanatory and so much of Khan's look is based on The Winter Soldier. That said, the knock-off people are still pretty interesting. Ursa just looks bad-ass, whether he has a giant gun or whether he goes full-bear and is ridden by his teammate. The Plot is still kind of a mish-mash and the middle is a bit too slow. The Pacing is all over the place here. Ultimately, The Guardians is kind of amusing as a Russian knock-off. It still won't replace a Superhero Film that I actually would vote for. That too Political? Tough. In any event, if you want to see the only connection between this and Marvel's upcoming Film, here it is...

Considering it was made for far less than a Marvel Film, it generally looks good. It is just a shame that the Film is so chock full of random weirdness and rip-offs.